Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Judge orders officers of J.N. Moser Enterprises to pay more than $265,000 in back wages to 105 Illinois truck drivers following US Labor Department investigation

Contractor barred from future government contracts

CHICAGO -- An administrative law judge with the U.S. Department of Labor has ordered Kristy S. Schleining and Donald H. Schleining, president and vice president of J.N. Moser Enterprises Inc., respectively, to pay $265,722.27 in unpaid wages and benefits to 105 truck drivers. An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that the defunct Montgomery-based company violated the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act by failing to pay employees the prevailing wages and benefits due under the terms of 16 federal contracts the company held with the U.S. Postal Service.

“Employers who enter into federal contracts are required to pay prevailing wages and benefits to workers in accordance with federal guidelines for the localities in which they live,” said Karen Chaikin, regional administrator of the Wage and Hour Division in Chicago. “The Service Contract Act provides protections not only to workers, but also to employers who depend on the Labor Department to ensure that no company receives an unfair advantage by failing to comply with federal law. This law is designed to level the playing field, and this judgment illustrates our department’s commitment to using every enforcement tool necessary to achieve that goal.”

Investigators found that employees were not paid regular wages, required health and welfare benefits, and holiday and vacation wages for a period of three workweeks leading up to Feb. 1, 2009, when the company abruptly ceased operations. Additionally, accurate records of employees’ pay were not maintained, as required under the SCA.

The judge ordered that Kristy and Donald Schleining must pay the back wages as the responsible parties. Additionally, the defendants have been barred from serving as federal contractors for a period of three years.

J.N. Moser Enterprises Inc. previously was investigated by the Wage and Hour Division for SCA compliance. In 2004, an administrative law judge found that the company and the Schleinings had violated the SCA and ordered them to repay $71,482 in unpaid wages.

The McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act applies to every contract entered into by the United States or the District of Columbia, the principal purpose of which is to furnish services to the United States through the use of service employees. The SCA requires contractors and subcontractors performing services on covered contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay service employees in various classes no less than the monetary wage rates and to furnish fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality, or the rates, including prospective increases, contained in a predecessor contractor’s collective bargaining agreement.

For more information about the SCA and other federal wage laws, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd.

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